Where Anger And Fear Convene

Anger, fear, frustration and desperation, punctuated by hunger and thirst, were among the things CBS News correspondent Tracy Smith

The center has served as a stopping-off point for thousands of people who lost their homes to Hurricane Katrina.

"It's truly unbelievable," Smith says. "Remember, this is one of the beacons of New Orleans: the convention center! Now, it's packed with people who are waiting for anything — buses, choppers — to get them out of this city, where floodwaters have become only one on a growing list of dangers."

"We all gonna die out here if anybody don't help us," one woman said.

Thousands of people were told to come to the convention center. But, Smith says, instead of being a safe haven, it's "a sea of desperation."

"The whole state is letting this city down. We are gonna die out here if they don't send somebody out here right now," 12-year-old Takeasha Griggs said.

Smith spoke to one 8-year-old boy who said he hadn't eaten in three days because he was too sick.

And Takeasha is very worried about her baby sister. Takeasha says her sister is sick, and the only food they get is from looters.

"Everybody, they breakin' in stores and stuff," she says. "They're tryin' to get food. They're tryin' to make us live."

As we stood there, a group wheeled out a man covered by a sheet.

Takeasha screamed.

The ones wheeling him out said he had died that morning.

"They promised him medical attention," a man said. "They said they had medical attention in there. There isn't any. They wouldn't give us water."

He said the man died from "diabetic stroke."

Smith was there for an hour and saw only two police cars, which drove right through.

"They do not give a care about us," Takeasha said.

Two military vehicles were also spotted nearby while the crowd was waiting for buses and evacuation.

Sandrika Dixon told Smith of her escape from Katrina.

"The water was like six, seven feet over my head," she said. "So me and my kids and my sister, we went in the attic, I busted a hole through the roof. …We swam, we held onto gates."

She survived, only to end up at the convention center.

"I feel like it's the end of the world," Dixon said. "But I trust in Jehovah and my family. We're gonna make it out."

Smith says she never felt that she was in danger at the convention center. She says the people there were polite to her and helped each other. They were angry and desperate to get out, but didn't turn their anger in her direction.